after November 16 – before December 18, 1934

Drohobych. Bruno Schulz meets Jerzy Janisch, who at that time is working on the renovation of frescoes in the church in Drohobych. Under his influence, Schulz picks up drawing again.

In the summer of 1934, Jerzy Janisch*, a painter and one of the founders of the “Artes” group, came to Drohobych. It seems that Schulz did not know him before, although he was in touch with other members of the group. “It’s a pity I met him so late”, he complains in a letter to Rudolf Ottenbreit*. “I wrote a note to him in August, he did not react, and he came to me only in November”1. The mention in the letter to Zenon Waśniewski* from December19 clarifies that they first met after Schulz’s hopes for a paid leave from school had been shattered2. “I was completely devastated for some time”, Waśniewski confesses. I was only invigorated by the arrival of the painter Janisz, a surrealist, a very nice boy who restores paintings in the church here. He encouraged me to draw, which I have not done for several years”3. In a letter written the day before to Rudolf Ottenbreit, Schulz presented a stronger version: “Under the influence of Janisch, interest in painting has revived in me. I draw between lessons and conferences”4. In the same letter, he laments the professional duties that make contacts difficult: “Unfortunately, both he and I have little time here to see each other more. He is free only at night, and then I am tired again. I wish I met him earlier”5. Another trace of their meeting is probably a pen drawing Janisch made, “perhaps depicting a surreal portrait of Schulz”6. The drawing is not dated. In the lower left corner there is an inscription “drohobych”, which may indicate its place of origin. (sr) (transl. mw)

  • 1
    Letter from Bruno Schulz to Rudolf Ottenbreit dated December 18, 1934, [in:] Bruno Schulz, Dzieła zebrane, volume 5: Księga listów, zebrał i przygotował do druku Jerzy Ficowski, uzupełnił Stanisław Danecki, Gdańsk 2016, p. 63.
  • 2
    The decision on this matter was made at the Ministry of Religious Denominations and Public Education on October 31, 1934, and it was received by the Board of the Lviv School District on November 8.
  • 3
    Letter from Bruno Schulz to Zenon Waśniewski dated December 19, 1934, [in:] op. cit., p. 81. Soon after, Schulz would start illustrating his short stories printed in magazines. On January 13,1935 Tygodnik Ilustrowany would publish the Dodo short story with the author’s illustrations.
  • 4
    Letter from Bruno Schulz to Rudolf Ottenbreit dated December 18, 1934, [in:] Bruno Schulz, op. cit., p. 63.
  • 5
    Ibid., p. 62–63.
  • 6
    Assumption formulated by Piotr Łukaszewicz, author of the book Zrzeszenie Artystów Plastyków Artes. 1929–1935, Wrocław 1975, p. 92, picture 87: Jerzy Janisch, Drawing from Drohobych (portrait of Bruno Schulz?), pen on paper, 17×30, signed “Drohobycz”, National Museum in Wrocław, VII-D-676.